To Protect the Past
by Forgotten Lake
Summary: Kagome is acting quite strangely. Are her friends going to finally learn the truth?


Disclaimer: I do not and never will own Inuyasha.

**To Protect the Past**

_Prologue_

_When Kagome was young, her mother told her stories. Stories about demons and priests and mikos and demon exterminators. And she knew that they were true._

_When Kagome grew older, her mother told her more. She had a destiny, a future in the past. And so Kagome continued to train._

_When Kagome was fifteen, she fell down a well._

Chapter One

Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, Shippou, and even Kirara sat around the campfire, watching Kagome's movements warily. She had been acting oddly for the past few days, muttering to herself, and writing in one of her books that she had always scribbled in. Whenever Kagome did something, her every movement seemed strained, and she was being extremely careful to not let anyone, even Shippou, near her bag.

"So, Kagome, was everything okay when you went back to your time?" Sango asked finally.

Kagome seemed to jump, and swiveled her head around as if she heard something in the forest. Then her attention swung to Sango. She laughed weakly and said, "Sorry, I'm jumpy for some reason. What did you say?"

The rest of the group exchanged looks. Then they looked at Kagome.

"What?" she asked nervously.

"Kagome, are you all right? You've been a bit distracted," Miroku said.

"I'm fine," Kagome said, "just worried about Naraku. We have the last jewel shard, you know, and it's likely that he'll act at any given moment. Why shouldn't I be jumpy?"

"I'm keeping an ear out. Why you so worried about it?" Inuyasha asked huffily.

"No, no particular reason," Kagome said. Her fists tightened on her green skirt, pulling it down nervously. "I'm going to go change into something to sleep in. I won't be gone but a moment."

As soon as Kagome was behind a big bush about eight yards away, the others exchanged worried looks.

"Something is wrong," Sango whispered.

"Something's been wrong all week," Inuyasha muttered, annoyed.

"There isn't much we can do if Kagome does not tell us what's wrong," Miroku said. "Maybe we should try talking to her if one of us is alone with her tomorrow. Maybe separately she'll give us enough clues to piece together what is wrong."

"Ain't that kinda sneaky, monk?" Inuyasha asked.

"Sango has gone to the hot springs with her and she hasn't gotten any information, she hasn't really smiled all week, and she barely even reacts to you any more. You haven't even been sat since she's got back!" Miroku said.

"Is something wrong with that?" Inuyasha asked, but by the time Kagome came back, dressed in loose blue pants and a white tank top, and everyone was back to what they had been doing earlier. Too bad their strategy never had a chance to take effect.

OOOOOOOOO

The next morning when Kagome got dressed, she wore something the feudal group of friends had never seen before. Strange blue pants encased her legs, odd white shoes that weren't made from leather and had strings that tied them onto her feet, and a long-sleeved tight green shirt that's neck went up to her chin. She had pulled up into a ponytail, and an odd smile was on her face.

"You look nice this morning," Sango said, looking at her friend approvingly up and down. Kagome had worn practical clothing for once.

"What manner of fabric is this?" Miroku asked, stroking Kagome behind as he "tested" the new cloth.

"Pervert!" Kagome yelled, and smacked Miroku. He fell on his behind, a red spot in the rough shape of Kagome's hand starting to shine upon his cheek.

"I must say, you are stronger this morning," he said, rubbing his cheek.

Kagome jumped slightly. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she said.

Inuyasha looked at Kagome oddly. "Isn't that the kind of pants your brother wears?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?" Kagome asked defensively, "girls wear them in my time too."

"Whatever," Inuyasha muttered. While the jeans covered more of Kagome's legs, the entire outfit was outlined Kagome's shape, revealing Kagome's body in a manner similar to Sango's demon slayer clothes. It was a bit disconcerting.

Sango knelt in front of Kagome and felt the fabric between her fingers. "This fabric is very tough, does it wear well?"

"Yeah. Actually, it felt kind of cold this morning, so I thought I'd wear something sturdier." Kagome said.

"These shoes are weird," Shippou said, poking at them.

Kagome giggled nervously. "They're really comfortable, Shippou."

"How well does this fabric stretch?" Sango asked. She really liked the feel of the fabric and how sturdy it was compared to the fabric she normally wore.

"Well," and Kagome looked around nervously, "I'll show you." Kagome slid down into the forward splits. Since these were her favorite pair of jeans and she had worn them several times before this, they stretched rather well with a minimum of discomfort.

Miroku's eyebrows lifted up, his hand slipping from his cheek as he grinned. Inuyasha blushed slightly, and looked away.

"Stop showing off," Inuyasha said.

"Shut up Inuyasha! That's cool, Kagome, can I do that?" Shippou asked.

Kagome got her legs into a cross-legged position. "It's harder for guys, but you can try."

"All right!" Shippou said. Sango smiled, and sat down next to Kagome.

"Well, Shippou, first you stand up straight." Kagome commanded. Shippou's back went bolt-straight, arms straight at his sides as he looked forward. Kagome giggled quietly, and Sango covered her grin with her hand.

"Okay, now stick out your hands in front of you, one to either side," Kagome said. Her eyes, unlike the past few days, sparkled with happiness.

"Right!" Shippou said, and followed Kagome's directions quickly.

"Start to slide one of your legs out in front of you, left preferably, and go slowly. Keep your balance, careful," Kagome cautioned as Shippou continued to follow Kagome's directions. Three inches above the ground he stopped, hands pushing against the ground as he struggled to keep himself from going any further.

"It hurts, Kagome!" he said. Kagome quickly picked him up and set him in her lap.

"I couldn't do it," Shippou said, his eyes looking watery.

"It's okay, Shippou. I couldn't do it my first time either," Kagome said.

"Really?" Shippou asked.

"Yup! I even bet that Miroku and Inuyasha would have a hard time doing that, if they even can," Kagome said.

"I could!" Inuyasha said defensively. Miroku just shook his head. Why would he want to something like that? Now, if he could get Sango to…

"Okay then," Kagome said.

Inuyasha mumbled to himself and, quietly thinking about Kagome's directions to Shippou in his mind (splits were not something he had ever done) and ignoring Kagome's advice to go slowly, fell into them. His eyes crossed slightly from pain, and after a second of shock, he quickly used his arms to push himself up so that he could jump up. His face was red, and he bit his tongue slightly to keep from complaining. Everyone else stared at him, mouths twitching. Kagome was the first to fall victim to laughter. Soon Kagome was clutching her stomach; having laughed too much, Sango, who didn't laugh that often, was laughing just as much as Kagome and Miroku couldn't stop chuckling. Shippou was rolling around on the ground, laughing loudly.

Inuyasha crossed his arms in front of him, turned his face away as a definite twinge of red spread across his cheeks. "Keh!" he said finally, "we should," Inuyasha's voice lost its defiant command, and he sniffed. He looked around, sniffing to catch where the scent was coming from.

"What is it?" Miroku asked.

"Naraku," Inuyasha said grimly.

No one noticed it, but Kagome gulped. Her face turned fearful briefly, and then hardened. She patted something invisible over her shoulder as if reassuring herself, then moved up by Inuyasha with Shippou while Miroku and Sango mounted Kirara. Kagome took her normal position on Inuyasha while Shippou perched on Inuyasha's shoulder, nails digging into the red cloth. Inuyasha took a couple more sniffs, and then started to run, avoiding trees, and stopping only occasionally to make sure he was still going towards Naraku's scent. Overhead, Miroku and Sango followed the red blur below them on Kirara.

Surprisingly, there were no obstacles between them and Naraku. Inuyasha slid to a stop, and Kagome stood up, holding Shippou to her chest. "Decided to give your self up, Naraku? It don't matter, 'cause I'm gonna tear you to pieces anyways!" Inuyasha said, smirking confidently.

Naraku smirked. "I just got tired of playing around with you. It is time to retrieve the last jewel shards from you."

Miroku clutched his staff as he quickly dismounted from Kirara, and said, "My apologies, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to refuse that request. Three generations of my family have chased after you, and it shall end today!"

"And today I shall recover Kohaku from you and avenge my family and my village! What you did was unforgivable!" Sango yelled her face hard and full of anger.

Kagome said nothing, but tightened her grip on her bow as she reached over her shoulder for an arrow. Her face seemed almost light, smiling, and relieved. Shippou, meanwhile, got ready to fight near Kirara. His hands trembled slightly, but he would help!

Naraku smiled indulgently. "Not today!" he said, "today is the day when I finally get rid of your annoying presence!" He raised his hands in the air and brought them down, and an army of lesser demons, Kagura, Kanna, Kohaku, and, to everyone's horror, an obviously dead and manipulated tribe of wolf demons, with Kouga at the head.

Naraku disappeared as multiples of him took their places and started towards them, leading the rest of the army towards them. The group briefly looked at each other grimly, and then Inuyasha leapt forward, killing large amounts of demons with every sweep of his sword. Sango threw her boomerang as Kagome launched her first arrow, while Miroku, Kirara, and Shippou took care of the demons that made it past the first three.

It was a massacre. Kagura, Kanna, and Kohaku hung back, with Kagura floating over head occasionally throwing an attack, but otherwise waiting until the lesser demons were destroyed. Kanna and Kohaku waited on the other side of the demon army, waiting as well for the group to tire out fighting the lower demons. Meanwhile, bodies of dead demons filled the ground quickly, and during the confusion of battle, no one noticed when Kagome ran out of arrows, and started using a naginata that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Its entire length glowed with purification, and her fighting style changed dramatically as she started to use the weapon with a skill no one in the feudal era had known she had. She was the one who faced Kouga and his dead tribe, and she prayed for their afterlife as she destroyed their dead bodies, her heart numb.

After about half the lesser demons were dead, meaning that there were still a few thousand remaining, Sesshoumaru, Jaken, and Ah Un joined the battle, having left Rin with a trusted demon. Their aid gave the tired group a chance to catch their breath before they returned to the battle, though it barely lasted a minute. With the reinforcements there, the rest of the demons didn't take too much time to finish, at least compared to the first half. As the last few demons fled, Kagura immediately attacked Sesshoumaru, drawing him away from the battle. Kohaku went after Sango and Miroku, and Kanna went after Kagome while a new hoard of Naraku's puppets attacked Inuyasha. Battle once more commenced, and after Kagome quickly took Kanna out, knocking her unconscious, no one noticed as she slipped away, following the direction from which the jewel shards called her. She started briefly as Kikyou materialized by her, eyeing her clothes and new weapon without much surprise.

Kagome didn't say anything, and the two women with one soul continued after Naraku. They burst into a clearing together, where Naraku sat, perched on the root of a giant tree. He smiled slightly as they stood their, eyeing their almost identical bodies with appreciation.

"I'm honored that you two saw fit to visit me," he said, a twisted smile on the face of his borrowed form, "Let me change for the occasion. You ladies will certainly appreciate this." Before their eyes, his form twisted grotesquely, before forming into an exact replica of Inuyasha, down to the battered sword at his side.

"This better?" he asked, and even the voice was identical.

Kikyou's face tightened in anger, seeing for the first time the actual proof of the depth of the betrayal that happened. Kagome's grip on her weapon faltered slightly, but she grasped all the more tightly after a moment.

"Onigumo," Kikyou said, "This day you shall pay for my death as well as all of the suffering you caused! I shall send you to the lowest level of hell!"

"This time, you won't escape!" Kagome added, "No matter who you look like."

"You two don't have the power to destroy me!" Naraku said, smiling confidently as he flexed his claws in a manner all too reminiscent of Inuyasha.

The two women attacked, Kikyou immediately putting the clearing under a shield so that Naraku wouldn't be able to slip away while Kagome sprung forward, wielding her weapon with a skill that only long years of practice could give. As soon as the barrier was up, Kikyou launched an arrow. Naraku evaded both of their attacks, laughing, and clawed into his own body to send a wave of Blades of Blood towards them. Kagome, closer, didn't have time to dodge much, and was struck in the shoulder, but Kikyou managed to get out of the way, a blade passing right where she was. The fight grew fiercer, Naraku shifting from form to form, using each of his new bodies' form with ease, though he often turned back into Inuyasha, knowing which form bothered the two women the most.

They scored many hits, but no permanently disabling ones until Kikyou finally managed to get an arrow through his arm. It took his entire arm, and Naraku, in retaliation, shifted to Sesshoumaru's form and sent Sesshoumaru's whip in her direction, splitting the clay body in half. Kagome held back a cry, but immediately placed a new barrier up as the last bit of her soul fled into her body. She gasped a bit as new energy filled her, as well as Kikyou's thoughts and plans. Naraku, who was smiling even as he glared at the lost of his arm, gaped slightly as Kagome put her hand on the jewel shards around her neck, and collapsed.

He shifted back to his old form, minus an arm, and walked over to her body. The miasma from his body started eating at her form. He reached down to pluck the remaining shards from her body, and froze as he touched them. Inside his body battle begun, for Kikyou had already left some of her soul in the jewel shard she had stolen and then given to him, and Kagome had filled her shards with the rest of their soul. In using the jewel's power, the user becomes tied to jewel and open to the souls within. It was through this Kagome's soul attacked, and spreading from the jewel shards, Naraku's body slowly began to fall to dust.

End Chapter

I'm posting something I've had lying around for awhile. I'll be interested in hearing people's thoughts on it.


End file.
